Man accused of shooting Mariposa County deputy faces nine felonies

MARIPOSA COUNTY. (KFSN) -- The man accused of shooting a Mariposa County Deputy made his first court appearance Monday.

Ballasch is facing nine felony counts, including three for attempted murder. He's accused of opening fire on deputies after a pursuit that ended near the fairgrounds last Thursday.

Ten year veteran Rudy Mirelez was shot in the face and torso.

The Mariposa County Sheriff, Doug Binnewies, said, "Our deputy is still in the hospital, still listed as critical. He's a tough deputy and is continuing to fight to heal, and we're confident he's going to come out on top."

Ballasch had a lot to say in court Monday, even claiming his rights have been violated. Right now the focus of many people in this community remains on the deputy who is in critical condition.

"Surprisingly it took me back more than I thought. We have our all business attitude on a lot of the time, but this was a little more emotionally overpowering on me than what I was prepared for," said Binnewies.

The Stanislaus County Jail is housing Ballasch to ease the burden on correctional staff in Mariposa. When the judge asked the 35-year-old if he has an attorney, he replied that he has no idea what's going on and that his rights have been violated several times since the shooting. He also said he lost everything in the incident.

"We tend to hear all kinds of things from defendants, we'll let the professionals do what they need to do to, and I'm confident they'll attain a positive adjudication on this," said Binnewies

Authorities have said Ballasch is a former marine who suffers from P.T.S.D.. The District Attorney could not comment on how that could impact the case, but says he's confident in the charges his office filed.

"We got the reports in and discussed them with the lead detective on the case, and we filed accordingly," stated Thomas Cooke, Mariposa County District Attorney.

The judge appointed an attorney out of Fresno for Ballasch, and he postponed the arraignment until next week.

The community continues to show support for Mirelez with signs made by local students to a benefit dinner being planned at the fairgrounds on October 24th. null